Bouncers take trampolining to new heights

PATRICK Mooney, 16, thinks he saw it first on Facebook and then YouTube: the craze of extreme trampolining, where more than 50 trampolines are fitted together to make a large field of bouncy mayhem.

''It looked pretty cool, so we got some friends together and went,'' he says.

Where they went was Bounce Inc in Glen Iris, Australia's first extreme-trampolining venue. Aside from the field of trampolines, there is a pit filled with 3000 foam blocks where attempts to fly come to a soft landing, walls where advanced jumpers perform tricks that appear to defy gravity, and a mid-air basketball hoop.

''It was very hectic, a lot going on, people playing dodgeball up in the air - and a little bit daunting when you see the professionals running up the walls,'' Patrick says.

On Wednesday, they returned for a second session.

Patrick's friend Ben Shayler, of Frankston, says the group of mates tend to compete among themselves, doing tricks such as flips and rolls - and reverse dunks at the basketball hoop. ''We kind of go along at our own level … I sort of slid down the wall after doing a reverse dunk and kind of bruised myself, but I wouldn't say it's hard-core,'' Ben says.

Extreme trampolining became a trend in the US about a year ago. Its success has largely been driven by social media. Bounce Inc opened its doors in September.

Marketing manager Ach Ratnayeke says business was slow for a couple of days - until a series of images put out on the Instagram photo-sharing platform saw the place booked out.

''Social media was the avenue we started with and Instagram was a very big one. It had the wow factor,'' Mr Ratnayeke says.

''We don't market it as a kids' play centre, although we get a lot of kids' parties. Mainly, it's the teens, from 12 to 17. They're playing alongside athletes who come in to train.''

Melbourne Storm recently did a session, as did the club's under-20s team. And then there was the party of 80-year-olds.

''They [the octogenarians] didn't exactly jump, it was more like they got on and wobbled and broke out with these big smiles,'' Mr Ratnayeke says.

Jerrie Liberati, 16, grew up with four trampolines in her Dandenong backyard. A former gymnast, she discovered Bounce Inc on Facebook and now visits the venue at least once a week with friends. ''It makes you feel like a little kid again,'' she says.

Like most newcomers, Jerrie was both attracted to and intimidated by ''the wall'', where the pros execute skateboard-like tricks … without a skateboard.

''Every time I come, I set myself a goal and now I can do a handstand at the top of the wall. It took me a couple of months. I really worked at it,'' Jerrie says.

Gymnasts are employed to train the players and monitor their behaviour, mainly to ensure they don't go beyond their abilities.

Bounce Inc has also gained an endorsement from osteopath and sports scientist Aaron Anderson, who believes the social setting could be helpful to people undergoing physical rehabilitation following an injury.

''Rehabilitation often involves performing repetitive exercises that can become boring after a period of time,'' he says. ''So when it comes to exercising, it is essential people do something that they enjoy.''

Mr Ratnayeke says Bounce Inc plans to open two more venues. There are six owners, he says, including Boost Juice chief executive Simon McNamara. There is no plan to turn Bounce Inc into a franchise. The capital investment is presumably high - and maybe the profits are, too, if young Patrick Mooney is anything of a trend-taster. He says: ''From the mass of people they're getting there, you have to think it's gonna be huge in the future.''